And I Haven't Been the Same Since
by xXxOrangeXFoxXx
Summary: The day Roxas had met Axel was interesting to say the least, the events that followed were, well, lets just say he hasn't been the same since. AkuRoku rated m for future chapters
1. Chapter 1

I winced as I heard the sound of yet another door slam in our faces. "Damnit!" my lovely companian who went by the name "Terra" shouted as he punched the wall earning a shout from the lady inside, not that we understood her, "Terra-" I started only to be cut off "I know, I _know_, profanity is the refuge of the ignorant and uncreative," Terra recited. I smiled, happy he listened to me all those times "But dammit, I like the way it rolls off my tongue and I'm an adult, so if i want to fucking swear I will fucking swear! I don't need a little punk like you to tell me what I can and can't do!" he yelled in my general direction.

Ugh, i hate it when he gets like this, "You turned eighteen like, forty-eight hours ago, what the hell!" I retorted "Yeah? So I'm still an adult, and you just swore!" I rolled my eyes "Hell isn't exactly a swear word, Terra! And can we get off this porch, that lady is probably going to call the police!" Terra suddenly seemed to realize where we were and started walking down the path that led to the road.

"It's your fucking fault we ended up in this situation." Terra mumbled. Ah yes, the "situation". "If it were up to you we wouldn't have made it past the airport! We would have come all the way here just to go back," then I said in a much less irritated voice "could you please stop shouting now, I swear your anger is going to rub off on me."

Terra looked at me " Oh yeah, like you didn't throw a chair at Sora just because he "wouldn't stop talking" or almost broke a kids arm because they "wouldn't leave you alone", please you have it much worse than i do". I looked down, ashamed. Once Terra saw that he had hurt me he quickly backtracked "But its not like you can control it, don't worry no one blames you for it, and you know i'm only acting like this because I'm worried about you, as your big bro I have to protect you, Roxas!" Terra said with a big brotherly smile.

No Terra wasn't really my big brother, with his chocolate brown hair and blue eyes he reminded me more of my friend Sora and not even _their_ related. The reason why Terra says that he's my "big bro", as he calls it is because when we first met, he protected me from this street gang(not that I needed it) and has been protecting me ever since. Of course, when people ask I just shrug, why? simply because i enjoy being an enigma. Terra had an interesting past, and when I say interesting I mean sad and deppressing. The reason why I said "goes by the name Terra" is because, well, we don't really know what his name is, hell, he doesn't even really know how old he is, but he acts pretty mature so... yeah. A few years ago i found him on the street singing and playing his guitar. And _god_ his voice is beautiful, like an angel, but anyway i found him and my dad let him stay at our house after some convincing. I helped him get his life on track and they found out he's awesome at sports, he trained and went to the olympics in 2008(even though he wasn't exactly old enough if he's eighteen now, but since no one really knows his age they acted like he was old enough with fake papers and stuff, Riku's the best at that) and so far he has won a total of 20 gold medals. They call him the golden boy, in any event he's in he never gets less than a gold medal, this summer he's supposed to be in the 2012 olympics to help the U.S bring the gold home so later on we have to go to London. So all in all Terra is pretty awesome not only is he attractive he's interesting, and I love interesting people, but of course I only love Terra in a brotherly way. Speaking of which I guess the reason he feels so protective of me is because when I found him he was lost, just going through the motions of life and protecting me gave him purpose.

"And I didn't know Italians were such jerks." Terra added as an after thought. "Not all Italians are jerks, we just chose the wrong neighborhood" I corrected him with a sigh.

Yeah. That's right, we're in Italy. And why are two kids-yes i said kids, I refuse to call Terra an adult yet- who are supposed to be in germany visiting my mom, in Italy? Well it goes like this, I visit my mom and my step-dad every summer and occasionally in winter, this year I brought Terra because my mom said i could only go backpacking if i had a friend go with me.

She said i could go with my step dad, but it's still kind of awkward being around him and while im happpy that he showers my sister and I with gifts, I still don't think he's right for my mom. So when we arrived i was ready within the hour to start heading east, no I don't know where I'm going, but all I want to do is see and experience. This whole backpacking thing is really important to me, you see when I was younger my family traveled all the time. We moved every two years, then parents got divorced, and everything went to hell. Before that we were rich but then my mom got custody and things happened(mostly my dads fault) and we ended up living in North Carolina, U.S. My dad dropped off the map for a while earning him the title "Dead-Beat-Dad". Then my dad got custody, my mom got remarried and moved to Germany so when we visit her we can see the world, we being my sister, Larxene and I. Most people think my sister is unpleasant, she mostly is, but she has her moments.

So anyway the reason why backpacking is so important to me is because I want to see the world again and this time not only the tourist attractions, I wanna see everything, how people live, their views on life and everything. I believe that every experience you have even the tiniest one can change you for the better. I've had a lot of adventures in my life and they make for great stories to tell people, but i want to keep having new ones. So yeah that's it.

Or at least I thought it was. I had no idea what was going to happen when we finally set out(a day after I was ready due to Terra's jet lag, poor thing wasn't used to it), I had no idea we were going to get pickpocketed, lose our money and have to beg people to let us stay in their home for the night.

* * *

As we walked around looking for a place to stay the events that happened earlier that day were playing over and over again. Don't get me wrong, I don't dwell on things that I can't change, but there was something about the pickpocketing that I couldn't get out of my mind.

Red.

**Earlier That Day**

_Terra and Roxas were sitting outside of a small family owned cafe a little north of Padova, Italy licking their gilatto happily. "You were right Roxas, gilatto is really good!" Terra announced "Glad you like it! I can't wait to get to Venice so we can ride on a gondola!" Roxas giggled. Roxas paused as he saw an old man struggling across the street. "Hold on Terra, here's five euros pay for our ice cream, I'll be right back." Roxas called out as he went across the street to help the elderly man. "Okay, you really are a saint, Roxas" Terra chuckled as he went inside to pay._

_When Roxas got to the old man he asked him "Are you okay do you need help?" Then he remembered where he was. "Hai bisogno di aiuto?" he asked again in Italian. "Ah!" Roxas let out a suprised yelp as the man pushed him into an alleyway. Roxas thought quickly,'Oh God is he going to rape me! I don't want to be raped by an old person! Or any person! Okay Terra's inside so he won't hear me, I didn't see anyone out there, this isn't exactly the place for tourists and barely any locals since it was Sunday' but that didn't stop Roxas from screaming his heart out. The old man searched Roxas for something 'Probably my wallet'. He cursed himself for not leaving it with Terra._

_"__Damn stop yelling, I could hear you from a mile away" Roxas flinched involuntarily to the swear word, and looked up only to find the old man looking around too. Then suddenly the old man was thrown off of him. He ran away thankfully without Roxas' wallet, revealing his saviour, the guy looked a little older than Roxas was and stood at an incredible height, to Roxas at least, but what really stood out to him was his bright red hair and acid green eyes. _

_"Hey shorty, shouldn't you be in church?" the moment was ruined by the redheads question. Roxas fumed, he knew he was short, but he didn't need that guy to throw it in his face! "Shut up!" Roxas yelled. "Okay, okay no need to bite my head off, I know your a tourist, why else would I be talking to you in english?" the redhead said in a bored tone. "Whatever, I know how to speak Italian anyway" Roxas_ was_ becoming more and more annoyed with_ _his 'savior' "Yes, but a local would know not to go up to a person they don't know, it's dangerous." "I was only trying_ _to help." Roxas said in a pathetic voice. "Well thats sweet of you, but I'll give you some advice: trust no one." his 'saviour' said with a smirk. "That's terrible advice, I can trust lots of people! For all the bad people there are twice as many good people." Roxas said firmly. "Suit yourself. Ciao!" and just like that the redhead was gone... and so was his wallet._

**End Flasback**

Needless to say Terra was pissed, not entirely at me, at the old man _and_ the mysterious redhead too. As I continued to think about it I wasn't that angry anymore. I was one thing, though, and that was _intrigued. _I had a thing for wierd and interesting people, that was why I had a brief crush on Namine, a girl who was in his class who claimed whatever she drew came to life, and a ton of other people I didn't really remember. So when I thought about that guy with the bright red hair and acid green eyes one thing came to mind: I had to know him.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was setting and we were still searching for a place to rest our weary heads. Every time we asked someone, they were nice enough, until we said we didn't have any money. After what had felt like hours, we started to enter a different part of town, it was pretty much the opposite of the area they had just exited. Where the other place was suburban and polished, this one looked like a typical urban jungle. Not exactly the neatest place ever, but it wasn't downright nasty.

"Alright that's it." Terra said as he pulled out his cell phone. "No! Come on, we can find a place to stay, where's your sense of adventure?" I pleaded with him. "No way Roxas, this place looks pretty shady to me. I'm calling your mom, maybe she can come and help us." He gave me a stern look as he started to make the call. I gave up looking around, I couldn't believe we made it all this way just to have to go all the way back. There was no way my mom was ever going to let us go backpacking ever again. I found myself becoming angry again at that infernal redhead. How could he do this to us?

When I looked back at Terra I noticed his face fall as he listened to the voice on the phone. "Damnit!" he yelled suddenly. "What?" I asked looking at him confused. "No international service." he grumbled "_Yes_!" I exclaimed, but Terra's glare wiped the joyful expression off my face. "So you _want _to sleep in some alleyway for the night? Don't you realize what this means?" "Relax Terra, I have it all figured out. Look." I said and pointed to an open doorway to one of the buildings in the city. From where we were standing we could make out a bright light that leaked through the crack, lighting up that section of the otherwise dark street. We could also hear shouts of joy and chatter, with the faint sound of music.

"So? What about it?" Terra asked obviously annoyed with my vague referencing. "_So_, it sounds like a party to me," I said, I couldn't believe he wasn't getting it "and if it's a party that means we can blend in, get some food and possibly find someone there to let us spend the night. With my cleverness and charm we'll be sure to get a place to stay! Then tomorrow, If they don't give us any money, we can make some on the street. You know juggling, fire-breathing, stuff like that." Terra seemed to consider this. "I don't know, maybe we can find a payphone or something..." He trailed off "Do you even know my moms phone number?" I asked. "Fine we can try, but remember, we don't know anyone there, they could be dangerous. So try not to draw too much attention to yourself," Terra said giving me a knowing look " I know you like being charming and showing off, but not everyone thinks you're the greatest thing to walk the earth" I rolled my eyes with a smirk "You'd be surprised."

* * *

Terra and I were shocked to say the least as we walked inside the building that held the party(leaving our bags in a hidden location near the building of course). It was surprisingly tasteful. The people there were in suits and gowns sipping champagne out of glass cups, the room was a refined white and gold... but the music was another story. Heavy metal played through the room and I'm still not really sure, but it looked like people were slow dancing to it. I began to feel self conscience about my with muscle shirt, black cargo pants and an orange jacket and I'm sure Terra felt the same, seeing as how he was looking down at his clothes, the only difference is that he actually _had _muscles, not my sad excuse for them.

"Um-" Terra started "Excuse me gentleman," A strange man came up to us, but strangely he didn't look put off by the obvious fact that we weren't dressed appropriately "Can I take your coats?" Terra was about to say something, but I gave him a look. "Sure you can! We're just here for uh-" I looked around quickly. Suits, gowns, band, nothing there it could range from a wedding to a cult gathering. Then something caught my eye- a banner Happy Birthday Xigbar? bingo "Xigbar's party." I finished quickly. "Well, yes of course, that's what everyone is here for," The man looked at me like I was an imbecile. I blushed."Though he won't like that you didn't get him a present." "Oh! Uh our friend brought it for us." Terra said as he gestured to a crowd vaguely.

"If you say so." The man said, though it's obvious he didn't believe us. After he took our coats he went back to standing ominously in the corner, ready to pounce on any poor unsuspecting soul that walks inside. I shuddered. "I hope your happy, Roxas. I have no idea how to start. And don't you think it's wierd he was speaking english?" Terra looked at me, annoyed. "Aww come on Terra have I taught you nothing? And don't worry the banner is in english, so lucky us we stumbled into probably the only english party in this area, but anyway first things first." I said looking at the present table. "What?" Terra asked as he followed me towards it. "Do you have a pen?" "Yeah sure." he said handing me a pen. Then he realized what he was doing. "Wait, Roxas stop!" "Oh come on Terra, didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude not to bring a present?" He looked down "Oh, sorry" "It's okay." He mumbled, though I knew it wasn't. "Anyway let's see, this looks good!" I exclaimed looking at a big present. "Uh, I can't watch you do this, I need a drink." He stated, walking over to the bar. "Don't get too drunk, they might think we're unpleasant! Nevermind, I'll just tell them you have a mental disorder!" I yelled, then winced and looked around thankful this was a fairly secluded part of the otherwise crowded room. " Let's see.." I said turning my attention back to the present. "From Demyx? This place is filled with wierd names, but I guess I'm not one to talk." Then I pulled out the pen. "From Demyx...and...Roxas" perfect! Now on to find a place to crash.

* * *

It was 10:00 according to the huge clock on the wall, and I still couldn't find Terra, I wouldn't be able to do what I was planning on doing until I found him and I was starting to get really angry. I mean, how hard could it be to find him in a place like this? Then it hit me, could he have been found out? What if he got kicked out? I shook those thoughts from my head. Until I knew he wasn't there I had to operate as if he was.

"Woah!" I let out at the same time a more feminine voice said "Eek!" Uh oh. "I'm so sorry!" I said. In my panic to find Terra I accidentally bumped into a woman and spilled a drink I snatched from a passing waiter. She had brown hair, soft features and kind green eyes, not as startling as the thief I met that morning,though, she looked no more than twenty-five years old. "Sigh, it's okay, it was my fault too. It's just now my dress is ruined." She said in a slight accent looking down at her dress. I looked at her dress too. Only one drop, but still, I had a plan forming in my mind. "I'm really sorry, but it still looks beautiful, and for obvious reasons," I said looking her up and down "I can't take my eyes off you." she giggled, then for my finishing move I took her hand and planted a single kiss on it. She swooned.

"Dio mio, I didn't know Xigbar had such a gentlemanly friend." She said smiling "Don't say that! You haven't seen my bad side yet." I said. "Oh and modest too, but I should tell you, I have a boyfriend. "Oh that's okay, I wasn't coming on to you, you're way too good for me." Roxas said in a slightly downcast tone, but holding no room for pity. Okay tone it down a bit, you already have her. "Aww you're adorable, don't worry you'll find someone, my name is Aerith Marino." she said "Nice to meet you I'm Roxas-" I said before I could come up with a clever name, oh well, might as well give her my last name too "Hikari, Roxas Hikari" she looked me up and down "Hmm, you don't look asian, well except for your eyes kind of." "Well, my Grandad is Japanese... so yeah." I told her not really knowing what to say. "Oh, So how did you meet Xigbar?" I winced "Work." I said thinking fast "Really, because I know him from work." She said confused. Oh no I was caught "Oh wait unless you mean his other work, um what was it, oh yeah, magia-oh wait, you speak english, um magic, he used to be an assistant to Luxord the magician!" "Yeah umm, I used to do that with him, the reason why he never mentions me is because we aren't really on good terms, he doesn't even know I'm here, so don't tell him, okay? I want it to be a suprise." "Ohhh, don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" Aerith said. I gave myself a mental pat on the back. I deserved it.

* * *

Twenty minutes later I had a pretty substantially sized crowd around me. I was entertaining them with all sorts of tricks and funny stories. You see I was pretty lucky Aerith had said that thing about magic, because I'm a huge magic junkie. I love learning new tricks and performing them. That's why I mentioned earlier that I could make money performing on the street. I can do anything from card tricks to fire-breathing and I'm a class A charmer, what can I say? People love me. I'm not being a narcissist either it was a simple fact. And I was glad for it, After all, I was a performer at heart, but that's not all I am, well, I'll get to that later.

There was another reason why I was lucky, and that was because no one in the crowd had discovered I didn't belong yet. A strangely familiar voice said "Oh hey, it's you shorty." my mind went blank with rage. I turned to him and shouted "Don't call me that!" "Whatever, it's not like your tricks were that great anyway." he said in that bored tone he seemed to always use, but even as he said that I could see the fire burning in his eyes. Challenge accepted. "Think you can do better?" I said in a slightly arrogant voice. "Oh yeah, step aside, princess." I scowled at the pet name, but when the redhead started his trick I felt that feeling that he left with me this morning again. What he did was snap his fingers and suddenly a flame burst out. I was enchanted. Everyone was equally if not more impressed than I was and started clapping. I felt a surge of jealousy.

He looked at me, victory written clear on his face. "Well what do you think, princess?" he asked me. "Don't call me that either!" "What? Not good enough for you? I've heard worse. You really are a princess." he spat the last sentence out at me. "You stole all my money from me and now you're insulting me! Who the hell do you think you are?" I pushed him. He pushed me back. Hard. Luckily I wasn't a stranger to fighting, so if he tried anything I'd be ready. Unfortunately, the way he threw that guy off of me earlier, didn't give me that much hope.

"What? You think you can fight me? You must be really tough the way you took care of that guy before." he said sarcasticly."I was surprised, that's all! I could have handled him!" by now we had acquired quite a large crowd. People wanted to know what was going on. Somewhere in the back of my mind I Knew this was a bad idea, but I ignored it, I got like that when I was angry, I've never really been able to control my emotions, or actions, or even what I say sometimes.

The redhead and I just glared at each other, all my feelings of wanting to know him disappeared and were replaced with feelings of "I'm going to kick his ass". "I am so sick of people like you," he said through his teeth "People like me?" I asked in a confused, yet just as mad. The it happened. One of the people in the crowd pushed me, causing me topush the redhead. And suddenly we were fighting. He punched me and I could tell it was going to leave a mark.

Then someone pushed us apart and a voice said "Okay you two, enough." The guy had his black and gray hair in a pony tail and an eyepatch with a few scars, he had on a tux like everyone else, but before I could stop myself I said, "Sorry, I don't think this is a costume party." the redhead cracked up, but the guy just glared at me. "I would know what kind of party this is, after all it's mine." I tried to make a run for it, but he just caught me. "Hey there not so fast, I won't be kicking you out. I talked to your friend and he told me all about it." I noticed a very drunk Terra smiling sheepishly at me. "_Really_, Terra? Wait you won't be kicking us out?" I asked. "No, he told me a great story, so I guess you guys can stay, and even come to my house and spend the night, as long as you complete the tasks I have for you." "Really?" I asked, not being able to believe it. "Yeah I already have someone crashing at my place, so why not? Speaking of wich, Axel, shouldn't you be in the kitchen?" Axel scowled at Xigbar and walked away. Not that I was paying attention. I kind of tuned out after he said we could stay.

* * *

It was 10:30 and I was still ranting on about the redhead, 'Axel' apparently, to Terra. "... and you know what he said, 'Oh Axel just acts like that, he's just not a very nice person, besides you're really annoying', can you believe that!" I said extremely annoyed "Stupid Xigbar! He just doesn't like me! Right Terra!?"Of course Terra wasn't listening. He was too busy stuffing his face too busy stuffing his face with cake to care. "And you know what Aerith said! She said that 'she didn't think I could handle Axel-" I spit his name "and so she went to get Xigbar'! Can y-" "Roxas." "ou believe that? I me-" "Roxas!""an can you believe that! I could have-" "ROXAS!" "What!" I looked over at Terra, annoyed. "You have to taste this." he said shoving a spoonful of Xigbars birthday cake in my mouth. Suddenly, everything in my mind went away and I felt like I was floating- not literally of course, but that cake was _so _good, I could see how all of it was gone except for one. I pounced on it- _yes _literally.

"Oh my god! This cake is so good!" I shouted "I know right!" Terra said "I'm going to marry whoever made this!" "Not if I can first!" I said "Fine, it doesn't matter, as long as I can eat there cake." Terra said "Yeah" I agreed. The rest of the party was filled of to die for cake, and awkward dancing(on Xigbars part, mostly).

* * *

**Hey you guys(especially you ChibiSeme97) sorry about chapter 2 before, I'm still kind of new to this, soooo please forgive me!**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning I found myself in a room. It was nice enough, with a queen sized bed and a black and gray color scheme, but I had no idea where I was, so I went outside to investigate. As I left the room I found myself in a short hallway with rooms on either side. One door that I walked up to had the light on and I could hear voices coming out of it, so I walked in. There I saw what looked like a dining room and a hallway on the other side of the room that I assumed was the kitchen. Sitting at the dark oak table was Terra, Xigbar and Axel.

"Well look who's awake," Xigbar said "Going to make fun of me some more?" I looked him up and down. He was wearing a nightgown, really a _nightgown_? Then I looked up at his face, he still had an eye patch on, and his hair was down. I came up with about a dozen things to say, but seeing his expression I decided to go with "Nah, too easy." He scowled and I saw Axel's mouth twitch upward, but when he saw me looking, he just glared. What's his problem? "Well don't just stand there come sit down!" I turned my attention to Terra who was patting the chair next to him. When I sat down he ruffled my hair "Don't worry little bro! I saved you plenty to eat!" I scowled "Shouldn't you be hung over?" "Nope, I feel as good as new!" I gave Xigbar a dreading look "What did you give him?" "Just Axel's famous coffee. It's how he is able to stay wasted 24/7 without getting a single headache!" Xigbar said brightly, but his smile faltered when he saw Axel glaring at him.

As Xigbar tried to calm Axel down Terra leaned down and whispered "All your stuff is packed right?" "Yeah." I answered confidently. I knew the reason for Terra's question right away. We, of course, had no intention of staying and completing these 'tasks' Xigbar had set out for us. As soon as it was clear we would run.

Xigbar saw us and gave us a look. "What are you two talking about? You're not planning on skipping out on your chores are you?" Terra and I glanced at each other. "No, sir." We said simultaneously with our heads down. "Good 'cause you can start now." He said, taking out a list. "First, Roxas, you can clean the kitchen." I groaned "Can't I do something else?" I asked hopefully. "Nope. And you, Terra, was it? Strange name," I opened my mouth to say something, but shut it when Terra gave me a look. "You can help me clean out the gutters." I immediately felt bad for complaining about my job.

When Terra saw my face, he said, "Don't worry, Roxas, I'd rather do it than see you do it, it could be dangerous. And as your big bro, I have to protect you." As we smiled at each other, out of the corner of my eye I saw Axel roll his eyes. "Are you two really brothers?" Xigbar asked. "Yeah." Terra answered, while I shrugged. "So then how come you two look nothing like each other?" "Genetics." I said. Xigbar looked confused, so I was going to explain, but Axel beat me to it, "The study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics," I was impressed "but I don't think I should be wasting my time explaining this to you." Xigbar shot him an angry look, but he was already getting up. "You sure have a smart mouth for someone who couldn't even go to school." Xigbar mumbled.

"Now, you two! Time to start working!" we groaned.

* * *

As I walked into the kitchen, I realized how much work I actually had to do. There were literally piles of dishes stacked next to a metal sink, which was also filled with dishes. On all the marble counters were empty containers, there were liquids spilt everywhere and the floor was, well, less than perfect, _way_ less. "I bet Xigbar messed up the kitchen just so I could clean it up." I thought out loud "Or he's just a slob," I turned around sharply, there, by the door, stood Axel "I'd go with the latter, though." He spoke in that same bored tone that made me angry and intrigued again, all at the same time.

He was wearing loose fitting jeans that rested low on his hips, and a black t-shirt. Though he was wearing extremely mundane clothing, he managed to look completely ethereal, with his thin figure, bright green eyes and red hair that just _couldn't_ be real. I felt like he was sizing me up, as if we were about to fight again, as if he _wanted_ us to fight again. His eyes gleamed with a cold and calculating look, imagining every possible move I could make, and thinking of a way to counter it. He was going to win, and the way his confidence was bursting out of every pore, told me he knew it. It was uncomfortable, hell, it was _horrifying_, but what made it worse was that I couldn't stop thinking that he was beautiful.

"Well he doesn't like me very much, and from how you act towards me, I take it neither do you." I said in a quiet voice, praying to God that I didn't say something without thinking, like I so often did. I stood watching him walk over to the cabinet, reaching inside and pulling out a bottle of scotch. "I guess not," he chuckled as he poured it inside a-probably the only clean-glass; he took a sip "Ahh, nothing like a glass of scotch in the morning." I looked at the clock, it was nearly 3:00, and I frowned. Axel stood there as I cleaned up the kitchen. I had a disgusted look on my face as I began washing the dishes, Axel laughed. I could hear the smirk in his voice as he said "What, haven't you ever had to wash a dish, princess?" I spun around, ready to bite his head off, "Don't you have somewhere to be?" Axel saw my glare and became mildly amused. This only served to irritate me, but again he beat me to it, "Not really, I already repaid my debt for staying with Xigbar-", I cut him off, "Wait, you don't live here?" "No, of course not, I would never live with _Xigbar_," his face twisted in disgust "I'm only staying here to get away for a while, I made some enemies that are trying to hunt me down. It's best I'm not home until tomorrow night."

My imagination ran wild, from who and what his enemies were to how he acquired them, but, "Oh." Was all I said. After a few minutes of silence I couldn't hold it in any longer, I was too curious. "So what did Xigbar make you do? Wash his dirty underwear? Did you have to Bathe him?" Axel looked at me oddly, "No, all I had to do was bake his birthday cake, it really wasn't that-"I couldn't believe it "_You_ baked that cake?" "Well, yeah, people say I'm a really good chef, but I guess I have to be good, 'cause I have to make my own food." But I wasn't listening to him, all I could think about was how good that cake was and our conversation last night, and before I could stop myself I asked him "Will you marry me?"

Silence. That's all I heard. When I finally gathered the courage to look up, I saw an astonished look on Axel's face. He wasn't expecting this, "Uhhh.." I heard laughing coming from outside. Terra came in. "Oh my God, Roxas. I know you have no filters but this tops all of them!" he tried to control his laughter. Axel took this opportunity to give me a strange look and walk out of the kitchen. He took his bottle of scotch with him. He probably thinks I'm a freak now. Terra saw my face drop. "Awww it's okay, but I mean come on, you don't even know if he swings that way, but you do, apparently." He gave me the 'I can't believe you didn't tell me' look and I just rolled my eyes. "Terra I've been with guys and girls before, remember? I'm pansexual." "Meaning?" I took a deep breath, " It means I don't care what gender or sexuality you are, if you intrigue me, or if I like you, then well, I like you." Terra nodded at me "That's respectable," he moved to the fridge "now, I suggest you hurry up, I'm on my next job already and we have much more to do. I sighed "Okay."

* * *

That evening, I was pretty happy with what I had accomplished. I finished cleaning the kitchen, the bathroom, and I helped Xigbar brake up with his girlfriend. Between the two of us, we had completed half of the entire list. It looked like we would be able to leave the day after tomorrow. My good mood, however, was destroyed when I sat down for dinner. Axel was sitting across from me, pretty much avoiding looking at me, except for the occasional, thoughtful look shot in my direction. It looked as if he were trying to figure me out.

It was awkward to say the least. But apparently Xigbar hadn't figured it out, because he talked the entire time, while Terra laughed at my misery, saying it was the 'big-brotherly' thing to do. That night I decided to sleep with Terra, not having sex, mind you, but I just felt lonely.

"I can't believe it. Every time I talk to him I always forget to tell him to give us our money back." I said in a frustrated voice. Terra laughed, "You like him." I thought about it. "Yeah I guess I do." Terra ruffled my hair, "Just don't get too carried away, this always happens to you, it's nice at first, but then you get bored and you throw them away." I winced thinking of my past relationships. "He probably thinks I'm a freak." I could feel the vibrations coming from Terra's laughter, "The kind of freak that asks people to marry them?" "I'm never going to live this down, am I?" "Nope."

That night Terra sung me to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey Roxas!"I felt someone shaking me. "_Rooxaass. _Roxas, come on. We have a big day today; I don't wanna have to do all the work _myself_." I wasn't a morning person. "Damn, Roxas." My eyebrow twitched, "Mmm, Terra, _language._" I said tiredly. "Come on Rox, _please_? I promise I'll make Xiggy be nice to you." Somewhere in the backround I heard, "Its _Xigbar_!" and then laughter, beautiful laughter, then I remembered, Axel_._ _That_ made me get up. "Fine." I said. "Yes!" came the cheerful voice of Terra.

Then he started going on and on about the list of chores we had to do, and how if we finished them all we could leave the next morning. But I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking of the day before and, with a blush on my cheeks, how I had asked Axel to marry me. How _embarrassing_. Why did I have to do that? I groaned. Terra saw the look on my face and smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, it shouldn't be that awkward anymore, well, maybe now, but he's leaving this evening, so yeah. Hey I rhymed! Leaving and evening! Get it Roxy?" he pouted when he saw I wasn't listening. Axel's leaving tonight? Would I ever see him again?

I thought about this for majority of time I spent at the breakfast table. Axel wasn't there, _packing_, Xigbar had said. "...Hey! Hey, kid! Are you listening?" I heard Xigbar shouting, at me, apparently. "Sorry." I said, though it was obvious I wasn't.

Xigbar sighed, "Terra, explain what I was saying to Roxas. I have to go out for a bit." Terra nodded an 'okay' as Xigbar left. "Okay, so I have to go out and buy some groceries, meanwhile you paint the garage and sort the stuff that's in there. Throw any garbage away, keep all the weapons, holiday decorations, and tools, anything else is, you know, garbage," Terra started getting up "If I come back and you're not done I'll help you. Okay?" I sighed, "Yeah sure, whatever." I heard the door slam shut.

I finished eating in silence. Once I was done I walked into the now clean kitchen to put my dishes away. I gingerly put my dirty plate in the dishwasher, careful not to dirty it. When I heard a pouring sound, all my efforts went to waste as I dropped it. I turned around quickly, shocked to see Axel drinking scotch in the kitchen, _again_. "A bit jumpy today, aren't we?" he said with that cocky smirk, but I could still see the uncertainty underneath it that I saw the other day. "How long have you been there?" I asked, my heart beating wildly. "I just walked in." Axel said with a shrug. "That's so creepy! Can't you make noise when you enter a room? You know, like normal people?" I asked. "Hmmm, you mean creepy like someone asking a person they don't know to marry them?" I winced, turning around. I didn't want him to see my blush. He was such a jerk.

I quickly finished putting my dishes away. "Look, I'm sorry okay? I have a habit of saying things without thinking first." I walked out, not wanting to stay long enough to see his expression.

* * *

As I entered the garage, I looked around. It looked like the garage I had back home, dark, creepy, and filled with useless crap no one ever uses. I turned on the light and started working. I went through different boxes and sorted everything into piles. The first one was Xigbar's weapons which, unfortunately, there were lots of. The next was made up of holiday decorations. Then there were family photos, memorabilia and other stuff I thought Xigbar might want to keep.

As I went through the boxes I came across an interesting picture. It was of a tall man with blonde hair, blue eyes and multiple piercings in his ears, but that's not what made it interesting. What made it interesting, was the little boy standing next to him with crazy bright red hair and familiar calculating green eyes. He looked genuinely happy in this picture, his eyes weren't as cold and he had a huge grin on his face. I ached to find out what that looked like in person. I put it in my pocket. I had to find out more. I was a pretty curious person. I decided I would go ask Axel about the picture before he left.

When I was done going through the boxes, I broke them down, save for the ones holding the things Xigbar was keeping, put them in the recycling bin, and then looked around for the paint. Finally when I found it, I was surprised to find the color was yellow. I mean sure I liked yellow, it's just, _yellow_? That really didn't seem like Xigbar's color. Maybe this wasn't the one he wanted. I looked around some more, but found nothing. "Oh well, I guess I could just paint it over if it's wrong." I thought out loud.

When I was halfway done painting the garage, I heard the door open and shut. "Hey, Roxas!" Terra shouted. "I'm in the garage!" I yelled back. "Oh hey Roxas! Looking good," He said, looking at the garage. "Is this the right paint?" I asked. Terra shrugged "Hell if I know." I scowled "Thanks." Terra grinned as he grabbed a brush to help me, "You're welcome!"

* * *

As we were painting the garage, Terra was telling me about his trip to the grocery store. "And then I was like, 'Yeah, I'm that guy' and then they asked me to sign their shirts, wich was cool and all, but then this guy asked me to sign his chest, at first I thought he said shirt too, but then this one lady translated, and I was like... fuck. He wasn't even fit or goodlooking or anything, he was hairy and was built like a sumo wrestler. I told him this could be his inspiration to lose weight and I could tell he wanted to beat the shit out of me, so I left as fast as I could." I giggled, deciding to let it slide this time, I knew Terra got excited like this whenever he told a story, we were similar in that way.

"So, are you still upset about Axel leaving early?" he asked, watching my eyes widen in shock. Earlier, when Terra came back from the grocery store, he told me that Axel left early for some reason. I was disapointed, because I wouldn't be able to ask him about the picture, but I tried not to let it show. I was suprised that Terra picked up on it. "You insult me, Roxas. Did you really think I didn't notice?" I looked away, busying myself with painting.

Terra sighed, "Look, I know you wanted to get to know him, but don't get so upset about it, this happens all the time. I remember once, you liked Sora, because you thought he was beautiful, or that girl Namine, because she interested you. But you stopped liking them the minute someone new came along. This whole thing with Axel is just a phase. You'll be back to normal once you become attracted to a flaminco dancer, or wooed by some annoying french hipster. Besides, I don't think Axel would be a very good influence, he was... rude."

I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "I didn't even know you back when I liked them." but I knew he was right. I probably _would _like a flaminco dancer, or a french hipster. Sora and namine are great, but I have a small attention span and get bored _very_ easily. The person who I would actually love, and be with _forever_, would have to be amazing. But right now, I couldn't even _think_ of spending the rest of my life with someone. That didn't stop me from getting angry at Terra, though. "Well, what about you? You always sleep with different people, at least _I'm_ a virgin. I can't imagine how Ventus feels right now." I muttered the last part.

When I went to glare at Terra, I stopped at the sight of him. "It's not my fault, I don't know where he is..." He said in a distraught voice. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up. You were right about me." I quickly apologized. Terra looked at me, "Roxas, how you are isn't a bad thing. It just means that you can appreciate different qualities in different people. You like strange and interesting people, and that's okay. Don't ever be sorry for who you are." I smiled, "Wow, Terra, I think I'm rubbing off on you, maybe someday you can be as charming as me."

Terra laughed, "Maybe."

* * *

When we were done it was about 4:00, it took us roughly four hours to get the second half done, mostly because of us goofing off. Terra and I were thirsty, so we went to get a drink. As we got to the kitchen we both had horrified looks on our faces. "You forgot to put the groceries away!?" I yelled at Terra. "Oh no! I forgot!" There on the floor, were three grocery bags, one had ice cream leaking all over the vegetables and the others were filled with spoiled and damaged goods.

"Urgh! I don't want to go back there! I can't speak Italian!" Terra whined. "Don't worry, I'll go. You stay here and clean up this mess. Do you still have some money?" I asked. "Yeah, all of it. I got all this for free using my good looks and stardom." He said wiggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes as he handed me the money. "Hurry up! Xigbar will be mad if we don't have them by the time he gets back!" he called after me as I raced outside. I got to the end of the road before I realized I had no idea where I was going.

I kept walking, thinking I would just ask someone. I looked around, but it looked like the small, city street was empty. Then I caught sight of somebody. "Mi scusi, può dirmi dove il più vicino negozio di alimentari è?"(1) I asked the woman. "Sì, è lungo questa strada e poi girare a destra e se andare avanti lo vedrete." (2) She said. "Grazie!" "Nessun problema."(3)

I followed her directions until I got to my destination. I frowned, it was a _gas station_. As I walked in the building behind the supposed gas pumps, however, I was suprised to find it _was_ a grocery store, albiet a dingy one. As I bought my items, I noticed the guy behind the cash register eyeing me suspiciously. He kept looking at me as if I was about to run off with something, or pull out a gun. I didn't hold it against him, though. In this neighborhood, it looked like it happened often.

As he rung up my items, we held a polite conversation. Once he realized I wasn't a thug, gangbanger or even a remotely a bad person, he warned me this was a bad neighborhood and I shouldn't be out at this time of night. I looked outside and realized it was, in fact, night and reminded myself to hurry up. After assuring him that I would be alright I walked outside.

As I was walking through the outside of the gas station something caught my eye. I looked over and saw a figure sitting down on the ground leaning against the wall staring at me. Axel. I knew it was him, and the way the moonlight reflected on his green eyes made him look as dangerous as ever. We stared into each others eyes for, I don't know how long, and before I could stop myself I was walking over to him.

"Hey, Axel," He said nothing "what are you doing here?" He stood up and began walking. "Hey I asked you a question!" I shouted, following him. "Will you _shut up_? You'll attract attention neither of us want." He sneered at me. "Okay, what are you doing here?" I asked quieter. When he didn't answer I kept going, "Do you live here? Who were your enemies? Are they gone now?" I felt all that curiosity come back to me, and once I started I couldn't stop "Was what Xigbar said about you true? Did you not go to school? How did you make enemies? Why did you steal my money? How old are you? Do you have a job? Where are your parents?" At that he snapped, "Can't you just leave me the fuck alone? I'm sure your retarded older brother is waiting for you to get back." I glared at him and said "Well not really."

He scowled "And why the hell not?" I could feel my cheeks heating up as I said, "Well, because I'm lost" It was true, I couldn't for the life of me remember where Xigbars house was, and following Axel didn't help. He sighed, exasperated, and looked at me. "Why did you ask me to marry you?" I gave him a bewildered look. "Why are you asking me this now?" It was totally off topic. He started to get that annoyed look he had on before, "Just answer me." I frowned, then shouted "I already told you!" Did it even matter why? He got a panicked look on his face, "Shut the fuck up!"

I ignored him, too angry to care about what was going on around me. "Who do you think you are? You ask me a question and then get mad at me? You stole all my money! That's why Terra and I have to stay with _Xigbar_," I spat his name "and make our own money! Do you even care? You're always so mean to me! At the party you _punched_ me. And I tried to be nice to you, but you just continue to be-" I was cut off, not by Axel, but a voice that said, "Hmm, what's this? A lovers spat?"

Axel glared at me, then turned to the voice, a woman, I'm guessing by the sound of her voice, who had long hair in a pony tail, and was extremely built. When I say extremely built I mean extremely built. She had bulging muscles that you would see on martial arts masters, or a girl taking steroids, but she still kept her feminine apearance and voice, so I ruled that out. "Axel, mia cara(4), we've been looking for you everywhere. And who's this carino(5) little blonde you have here?" She asked in a sweet voice , but all my hopes that she was a good witch went out the window as she flew at Axel. She was literally in the air, about to deliver a roundhouse kick, but luckily he was ready for her. He blocked the kick, using that incredible strength I saw before, and successfully sent her flying back, then before I even knew what was going on. Axel grabbed me, and ran.

He was really fast, too. Since I was thrown over his shoulder, all I could see was the floor, first I saw the road, then I saw rubble then, suprisingly, I realized he was running on the top of a picket fence, seperating two backyards. Then a road again, when I looked up, I was terrified to see three more of them chasing after us with... ninja stars? "Axel!" I let out a strangled shout. He ignored me and kept going. So I took matters into my own hands.

As Axel was running, I took some fruits and vegetables out of the grocery bag that I was still holding and threw them at the ninja's with pretty good aim, I hit all of them at least once. It slowed them down, but not for long, so I started looking around, thinking of other ideas. Then I got it. "Axel, stop right up there, okay?" I said ponting to a pile of junk in the alley way infront of us. "Why? Don't you think you've helped enough?" he said in a snippy tone. "Just trust me okay!?" I yelled, If we didn't do something, we would be cornered. Axel looked at me, "Fine." I got ready to throw the pineapple at my target, a wooden bar holding up some of the junk. Just as Axel stopped, I threw it, causing a chain reaction. A ton of junk and random chunks of stuff, fell down most of them falling on our persuers and the rest on the other side of a wooden plank that Axel was standing on, propeling us into the air and on the other side of the wall that would have cornered us.

I braced myself for the fall, but it never came. I opened my eyes to find us, or rather, Axel rightside up. "Well, I wasn't expecting that," Axel said, putting me down "but that was quick thinking, good job kid." As soon as I was rightside up, I started asking questions, "Who _were_ those guys? Were they your enemies? Why were they chasing us?" Of course, Axel ignored me, and just kept walking. "Where are we going?" Axel looked at me, "well we can't go back to Xigbar's, so I'm taking you to a... person I know. So I can figure out what to do with you."

And with that, we continued on our way in silence.

* * *

**Hey! I was gone for a while so here's a long chapter to make up for it (Well long for me). XD Thanks for reading and please review.**

**(1)Excuse me, could you tell me where the nearest grocery store is?**

**(2)Yes, go along this road then go right and you will see it.**

**(3)no problem**

**(4) my dear**

**(5) cute**


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